Today's Opinions

At least we passed out a syllabus. Yes, the course outline that we gave out on the first day of class explained what a student needed to do to pass the class.

So, the students at least had some direction: In order to earn a certain grade in this class, thou shalt accomplish certain things. But that’s only part of the issue, as some believed that simply by performing various tasks they were guaranteed an “A.” The other part of the equation was how well they did the work.

“... I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’”
— Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963

Without polling the candidates, which I don’t have time to do this week, it’s hard to say what motivated so many Las Vegas citizens to run for so few positions. Seventeen people filed for mayor and two council seats, including an impressive nine for the city’s top job.

Maybe so many jumped in because the city is at a pivotal moment in time, when we could move forward on things such as water projects, or backward on things like political favoritism.

IMPRESSIVE TURNOUT. Seventeen people filed on Tuesday for three Las Vegas municipal seats, making it the largest slate of candidates for so few openings at least in recent memory. Nine people filed to run for mayor — the first four-year term for that position, if the new charter holds up, while two filed for the Ward 2 council and six others for Ward 3.

Regarding Work of Art, “That fourth floor,“ of Jan. 4:
There were no Mexicans on the fourth floor where I grew up. No buildings were that tall. There were indeed countless Mexicans in the fields and orchards, and I was right there with them. Chopping sugar beets, picking apples, tomatoes, peaches, pears, black berries, quinces, crab apples and etc. I dreaded working in the endless rows next to a Mexican lady. She would arrive at the noon time lunch truck long before me. And the boss noticed.